Maxime de la Rocheterie on Marie-Antoinette

"She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr."

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

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Unless otherwise noted, any books I review on this blog I have either purchased or borrowed from the library, and I do not receive any compensation (monetary or in-kind) for the reviews.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

All of this pales in comparison, however, to the outrage over the
fact that Trump is planning to “end Meals on Wheels,” thus directly
causing the death and starvation of our nation’s senior citizens. Social
media exploded, and is still exploding, with millions of tweets and
lengthy Facebook diatribes castigating Trump and the evil Republicans
for defunding the program. Dozens of articles were written with headlines like
“Trump Just Announced Plan to End ‘Meals on Wheels’ for Seniors,”
which, if you didn’t know any better, would make you think Trump just
announced a plan to end Meals on Wheels for seniors.

The only problem with all of this is that it’s total nonsense. Trump
did not end Meals on Wheels. He didn’t do anything close to ending Meals
on Wheels. His budget doesn’t mention Meals on Wheels. Instead, his
budget cuts a
program called the Community Development Block Grant. This program,
which is often abused, partially funds Meals on Wheels. But the funds it
gets from the CDBG are small in comparison to the funds it gets from
sources like the Older Americans Act,
which remains unscathed by Trump’s budget. Meals on Wheels also
subsists largely on private donations. So, it’s not close to accurate to
say that Meals on Wheels is “ended.” It’s not even accurate to say that
government funding of Meals on Wheels is ended. Rather, one single source of government funding to the program is ended, while may other sources, including private ones, will continue. (Read more.)

1 comment:

Those kinds of programs should be financed by local governments....and while we are hitting on this topic, PBS should not be financed by the government. Why should taxpayers money pay the salary of, for example, Tavis Smily, when other broadcasters have to finance their own networks and pay the salaries of their commentators?

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